Gmail, other Google services down, hackers got into U.S. Treasury

The U.S. Treasury Department computers were hacked into over the weekend. Then, on Monday, Google services were down, which impacted those doing distance learning.

The Treasury hack that took place Sunday looks like it stemmed from malware being put on a security system, possibly through a phishing email.

Not only was the treasury department impacted, but all five military branches and thousands of federal, state and local computer networks that all use the same security software.

John Benkert is a local cyber security specialist. “It looks like we are looking at a foreign government, but bad guys are bad guys. They are always looking for the edge, always looking for our technology,” Benkert said.

Benkert is the senior vice president at Cigent Technology. He adds, by the time a breach is discovered, it’s been there for some time. So it’s going to take even longer to figure out what information has actually been compromised.

That may be frustrating for consumers, so it’s recommended to back up personal data, and protect personal and financial information.